Do Rural Policies Impact on Tourism Development in Italy? A Case Study of Agritourism

Vincenzo Giaccio,Agostino Giannelli,Alfonso Scardera,Luigi Mastronardi,Davide Marino

doi:10.3390/su10082938

Vincenzo Giaccio, Agostino Giannelli + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082938

Copy DOI

Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Aug 18, 2018
Citations: 26	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Molise, Cereal Research Centre

Abstract

This paper investigates how and to what extent European and national policies have financed Italian agritourism. It analyses financial support derived from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (First and Second Pillar) and national and local subsidies. For this purpose, the authors have proposed a comparative analysis between Italian agritourism and farms without tourism activities, by stressing the distribution of public financial supports concerning the 2007–2013 programming period of the European Union (EU) for Rural Development. The empirical analysis is based on the Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) dataset. The data were stratified by altimetry zone and farm size. Descriptive statistics and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for each group were used. The main results show how the Second Pillar has mainly supported small and medium-sized farms with tourism activities and located in disadvantaged areas. This study could be useful to policymakers regarding the evaluation of the mission for diversification in agriculture, represented here by the carrying out of tourist activities on farms and the contribution for the retention of small-scale farms in marginal areas.

Highlights

This paper analyses the relationship between rural policies and agritourism development in Italy
This study shows how Italian farms in the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) dataset behave very differently in accessing different policies in relation to the presence or absence of agritourism activities
Higher levels of funding under the Second Pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as state funding show, at the same time, that entrepreneurial decision in favour of agritourism activities are embedded within broader choices regarding diversification and multifunctionality

Summary

Introduction

This paper analyses the relationship between rural policies and agritourism development in Italy. The implementation of tourism activities on-farm is a form of diversification of agricultural activities, a process that has consistently accompanied European farming in recent decades and was born out of necessity—especially in the case of small and medium-sized farms—to find ways to increase income from agricultural activities, and in recognition of the role that agriculture places on the relationship between communities’ natural resources and rural areas [6,7]. This process, strongly supported by agricultural and rural development policies and implemented in the Agenda 2000, has significantly influenced the aims of instruments for financing these policies, identified as the First and Second Pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Methods

Results

Conclusion